Colts-Texans & Bears-Vikings: Week 12 in Pictures, Part 1

This is NOT the suit Peyton Manning opened week 12 in, but it does begin this article the way the telecast did: by showing the devastation the Colts QB had planned for his opposition, much like the devastation he always does. Peyton would face the Houston Texans, who have played foil for the Colts for the majority of their existence, at Reliant Stadium, which in a few years will be a house of horrors for visiting teams. Wouid it be for Peyton Manning? We would find out when Peyton got out of his cream suit and into uniform.

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Hard-Won Lessons Of 2007: It’s Never Too Soon To Peak Late

As the New England Patriots face yet another undefeated team in the New Orleans Saints tonight, it is almost impossible to avoid thinking about the 2007 Patriots.

No, I’m not parroting the article in Sunday’s Boston Globe comparing the 2009 Saints to the 2007 Patriots. It was an interesting read, but I did not find it that relevant. 

Despite the fact that tonight’s game has been hyped to the point of utter absurdity, it represents a pivotal point in the season for each of these teams.

The Pats have been criticized enough, and they need to prove to the rest of the NFL that they are for real. They are playing for some respect.

This game is also an opportunity for the Patriots to create some real separation between themselves and the rest of the AFC East.

For the 10-0 Saints, home field advantage throughout the playoffs is plenty of incentive, and they understandably want the respect that comes with an undefeated season.

Respect that comes unless you are the 2007 New England Patriots.

The Belichick-Mangini-Walsh-Goodell-Specter drama that unfolded in the wake of game one in ’07 is well documented elsewhere, and frankly, the whole thing was such a tempest in a teapot, and I couldn’t be bothered recounting it anyway.

What is far more interesting is a look at how that drama affected Bill Belichick and his team.

Regardless of how unclear the memo might have been, it was intended to clarify a league rule that was full of loopholes big enough to accommodate rush hour on the Southeast Expressway.  The real point is that punishment was handed out, the NFL microscope landing squarely on Belichick, his staff, and his players, who motored forward.

End of story, right?

“Not so quick,” said Belichick. “Does anybody really believe that my team needs to cheat to win games? Watch this.”

Belichick’s Patriots ignored the criticism spewed at them everywhere they went, leaving host fans seething at venues all over the country. Nobody wanted to lose to a team that they had been led to believe could only win by cheating.

Under the glare of that microscope, Belichick became Captain Ahab. Perfection became his white whale.

He worked his team relentlessly. They responded with the same intensity; they didn’t like the idea of being labeled as cheaters, either.

Yes, they embarrassed some teams. Until the Colts in Week Eight, a 24-20 victory for the Pats, their opponents were completely overwhelmed. The Patriots were putting up numbers so gaudy, I almost felt sorry for some of these teams. Almost, but not quite.

To paraphrase John Madden as he commented on one of the Patriots’ Monday night massacres: If your defense isn’t good enough to stop them, that’s on you. Some of these teams need to look at that.

The New England Patriots were on a mission, plain and simple. And I defy anyone to suggest that they were cheating or even bending a rule in 2007.

After the Colts game, the Patriots followed up with a 56-10 humiliation of the Buffalo Bills before heading into the bye week.

Injuries were piling up, Belichick had his players redefining the word “versatility,” and the team just rambled on.

After the bye week, the margins of victory became smaller and smaller. The team was tired, and the injuries had taken their toll. By the end of the regular season, it was easy to see that the team had simply peaked too soon. They were running out of gas.

My apologies for resorting to such cliche, but there really are not many other ways of saying it.

During the playoffs, they faced some tough opponents, and had to dig really deep to win those games.

And Super Bowl XLII? They were toast. I don’t want to take anything away from the Giants. They played well enough to win, and the Patriots did not.

Fast forward to 2009. We are all aware of everything that has happened since that Super Bowl loss, so I won’t repeat it here.

The bottom line is the sum total of everything that has happened during the past 21 months and the New England Patriots are a new and improved team that started out this season with a lot of question marks.

I am not going to suggest that all the questions have been answered. What matters here is that this team has become better over the course of the season.

They began the season with a reliable core, surrounded by a number of players who had a lot to learn. And I believe that, for the most part, they have learned their lessons well.

Yes, there are injuries and other issues, but the 2009 edition of the New England Patriots has not peaked yet.

The Saints are a great team, but in my opinion, they have yet to be challenged. They have very precisely carved up the likes of the St. Louis Rams, the Buffalo Bills, and the Carolina Panthers.

A case could be made that their destruction of the New York Giants was significant, but in all honesty, we know that the Giants have lost several games they should have won. I can’t put them on the list with the Rams and the Bills, but they have not played well.

So who wins this game?

Two great teams take to the Superdome field tonight, and one comes out with a lot of pride. The other team gets to say, we played a great team, and we lost.

The Patriots will win this game by the skin of their teeth.

 

 

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Two Rhodes Diverged: Kerry Rhodes, Jets Safety, Still Missing the Message?

“I shall be telling this with a sigh…” — Robert Frost, 1920.

New York Jets safety Kerry Rhodes sent a message on Sunday that didn’t take 140 characters or fewer against the Carolina Panthers. 

The avid tweeter delivered a two-interception performance to stamp a final exclamation point on a tumultuous week that started with a demotion. Jets coach Rex Ryan had removed the fifth-year safety from his base 3-4 packages.

Yet, Rhodes still didn’t say enough. Making a turnover-plagued quarterback look like a turnover-plagued quarterback doesn’t signal the long-awaited return of the Jets’ playmaking superstar. 

But if you ask Kerry, he’ll imply that the demotion was all he needed to reignite his fires.

“The message was sent,” said Rhodes, briefly. “Now I am moving on…You saw Kerry today and that is what you will see.”

A peculiar notion, to say the least.

The Jets’ 2008 defensive captain shouldn’t need a message to become the blitzing ball hawk who was snubbed in Pro Bowl voting, following strong 2006 and 2007 campaigns.

And he definitely shouldn’t have needed a message after an offseason he peppered with expectations of performances akin to that of Baltimore Ravens five-time All-Pro safety Ed Reed.

Former Jets quarterback Ray Lucas and NFL analyst Adam Schein discussed Rhodes’ performance on SNY after the game, and they agreed on something fans believed was missing from Rhodes’ preparation all season: he played like a man who studied the film on Jake Delh-“Oh my God! Where are you throwing?” and took advantage.

If Lucas and Schein were right about Rhodes improving his preparation with more film study, then that speaks to a much bigger problem with the player who’s posted more than 7,100 messages to his Twitter profile .

Regardless, the intention is not to vilify Rhodes for his extracurricular activities. It’s inappropriate. But his motivation shouldn’t be beyond reproach.

When former Jets coach Eric Mangini shipped Jonathan Vilma to the New Orleans Saints, he also shipped the defensive leader who kept Rhodes in the film. The result: David Harris emerged as a quiet leader where Vilma once stood, and Kerry Rhodes regressed to a playmaker by previous reputation.

As it stands, fans have to wonder if Rex Ryan should consider making the demotion even stronger than just a message. Perhaps it could signify a real change.

Granted, Rhodes’ success could have been a result of added determination after an embarrassing public demotion. And then his performance could also have to do with the decrease in responsibility in his new role. 

Finding the field in nickel packages didn’t require Rhodes to have sideline-to-sideline range in the defense against the Panthers. He played a support role and waited for Delhomme to toss one of those errant passes he’s become infamous for since January.

Rhodes is more athletic than Eric Smith, the safety who replaced him. But one has to wonder if he’s diagnosing plays with the efficiency needed to play the deep safety position. 

Nonetheless, consider these the cracks in the wall that separate fan from journalist:

1. I own an authentic Kerry Rhodes jersey.

2. Kerry Rhodes’ autograph is permanently Sharpie’d onto another jersey of mine.

It’d bring me great joy to declare the end of Rhodes’ two-year regression. But in the spirit of responsibility, it must be understood that such a declaration would be premature. 

Until then, I’m looking down the road as far as I can, hoping the demotion made all the difference.

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The Spread Offense: The Future of the NFL and Fantasy Football

Variations of the spread offense, such as the pass-happy version the Patriots run or the Wildcat in Miami, are taking over the NFL. In this article, I will explain how the transition of NFL offenses to the spread will affect the game, providing six fairly bold predictions and detailing how these changes will alter the landscape of fantasy football in the future.

 

1. Within ten years, all NFL teams will be running some form of the spread as their base offense.

We’ve already seen this prediction become a reality for teams such as the Patriots and Saints. It’s no coincidence that these teams generally score the most points. Even teams that have traditionally been known as running teams, such as the Steelers and Ravens, have transitioned to a more spread-like attack in recent years.

A conversion to a spread offense, however, does not necessarily mean more passing. The Saints, surprisingly, have run the ball more effectively than anyone in 2009. A quick peak at college football can also yield great insight as to what the professional game will become in the near future. There are spread offenses that throw nearly every play (Texas Tech, Hawaii)as well as spread offenses that run the ball a ton (Florida).

But why would college football get it right before the NFL? First, there is no “right” offense to run. The NFL goes through cycles where offenses adapt and defenses counter, creating periods where sometimes big, strong players are in vogue and other times small, fast players are the norm.

Second, NFL coaches are on such a short leash that a complete shift in offensive philosophy would just take too much time to manifest itself in a winning team. A coach that leads a 5-11 team with a traditional offense is much more likely to stick around for another year than one who led the same team with an unconventional offense.

NFL owners, GMs, and fans just have not seen enough results from a spread attack to know it will work, and thus are hesitant to embrace change. Eventually, however, NFL offenses will slowly become more aggressive and spread offenses will become the norm.

Fantasy Impact: The consequences of this transition are already being seen in 2009— tons of offense being spread around to a variety of players. Gone are the days of stud running backs garnering 400 carries a season. Offenses contain so many different player personnel packages that no player is on the field all the time anymore.Nearly every team disperses the ball among a multitude of running backs and receivers, meaning most players are very specialized in what they do.

Fantasy football has adapted with reality, as many leagues have implemented more starters and flex positions to parallel what is happening in the league.

Ultimately, this transition will make the few workhorse running backs and highly-targeted receivers an even hotter commodity than they are now. This will make being at the top of drafts crucial, leading more and more leagues to adopt an auction style player selection process.

 

2. Much like the OLB/DE 3-4 hybrid position, NFL offenses will see more and more RB/WR hybrid players.

Running backs with great receiving skills have been around for awhile (Marshall Faulk comes to mind as the ultimate RB/WR), but the game is seeing a shift from running backs who can catch the ball to true hybrid players. Reggie Bush and Percy Harvin are two current players whose games are predictive of what we will see in the near future.

In college, stars such as Ole Miss’s Dexter McCluster and Florida’s Jeffrey Demps are blurring the line between running back and wide receiver more than ever before.

The nature of most spread offenses is the reason for these sorts of players. Ironically, the various personnel packages and subsequent specialization that the spread has created has led to the importance of these do-it-all-players. The reason a great pass-catching tight end is so valuable, for example, is because of his versatility.

Tight ends that can block make defenses stay in their base personnel grouping, meaning the pass-catching ability of these players will be on display with a slower linebacker in coverage. Should the defense bring in nickel personnel and put an extra cornerback in the game, the tight end’s blocking ability becomes an extremely lucrative asset.

Much like the tight end position, these RB/WR hybrid players create matchup nightmares for defenses. A personnel package that contains a player or two whose running ability is as indefensible as his receiving ability gives the defense no hint as to a possible play call, thus creating the inability to make the proper personnel substitutions.

Fantasy Impact: The RB/WR hybrid position will actually create some real problems for fantasy football in the future. While Reggie Bush is mainly a running back (although that is debatable) and Percy Harvin is mainly a wide receiver, there will be a large group of players drafted in the next few years that truly are not more of one position than the they are the other.

Will these players be drafted as running backs of wide receivers? In which starting slot must they be placed? All fantasy leagues will have to alter their starting requirements to include at least one flex spot, and positional designations of these hybrid players will become an increasingly controversial issue in the future for fantasy owners.

 

3. The “Wildcat,” as one version of the spread, will flourish with better passers taking the snap.

In some ways, the Wildcat offense was already around when Michael Vick was in Atlanta. In that version of the offense, however, the snap-taker could throw the ball incredibly well. Before Ronnie Brown went down for the Dolphins, they had been running the Wildcat very effectively with a running back with limited passing skills. Imagine the efficiency of that offense with a player who could throw the ball like Michael Vick.

The reason that the Wildcat can be so effective is because the offense can use an extra blocker with the snap-taker running the football. No quarterback is needed to hand the ball off.

Offenses can also stay in base personnel if their regular passer is versatile enough to run. This will keep defenses off balance in both their personnel groupings and their play-calling. It is much less risky to blitz both cornerbacks with Ronnie Brown at “quarterback” that it would be to bring pressure with Vick taking the snap.

Pat White was the first player truly drafted to be a Wildcat “QB,” and there are more of them coming. Of course, Tim Tebow is the ultimate spread offense, Wildcat-type college quarterback, and, consequently, the ultimate question mark for NFL general managers. The range of opinions regarding Tebow’s skills varies greatly, with some scouts believing he deserves a high first-round grade and others giving him a fifth-round grade.

Only time will tell if these running quarterbacks and the Wildcat offense are just fads, but I believe that once the NFL embraces all variations of the spread, both will have their place in the league.

Fantasy Impact: Just as the RB/WR hybrid spot will create problems for fantasy leagues, so too will a QB/RB position, albeit not as soon. If a team like the Dolphins, who could potentially run Wildcat as their base offense, utilize a player like Michael Vick, the line between running back and quarterback could become hazy.

Even more hazardous to fantasy football’s future is the possibility of certain QB/RB hybrid players being such a focal point of offenses that they tilt the balance of relatively equal statistics. College football fantasy owners know this phenomenon well, as running quarterbacks like Tim Tebow and Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour have an opportunity at scoring fantasy points on virtually every play.

Fantasy leagues will have to cross this bridge when they come to it, but the dispersing of stats that many spread offenses have created could be limited to receivers and running backs, with the future QB/RB hybrid spot becoming fantasy gold.

 

4. In much the same way that teams have utilized two or three running backs, the majority of NFL teams will regularly use two quarterbacks.

There is no doubt that one of the main reasons against using a running quarterback in the NFL is economical. The majority of signal-callers get paid so much money that franchises are just too invested in one player to let him get injured.

To overcome this conundrum, NFL teams will begin to use two quarterbacks. One may be more of a passer than a runner, and the other vice versa, but both will be versatile enough at both skills so that the defense cannot predict the play call simply from the personnel.

By having two, or even three, viable running quarterbacks, teams can make any playcall without hesitation, knowing that an injury to one of them would not set the team back incredibly far economically or from a personnel standpoint. Traditionally, an injured quarterback basically means the end of all Super Bowl hopes for a team, but with the implementation of a two-quarterback system that the spread will invoke, this is not the case.

Furthermore, we will see teams use both quarterbacks on the field at the same time. This will allow teams to become more aggressive in their play calling, using more throwbacks, reverses, and so on where these hybrid players can throw down field.

Imagine the Dolphins Wildcat system, for example, with Tim Tebow taking the snap (instead of Ronnie Brown) and Michael Vick running across on the read (instead of Ricky Williams). There is no doubt that Brown and Williams are incredibly talented runners, but neither holds the passing ability to truly keep defenses honest.

With two QB/RB players running that scheme, the options for an offense become seemingly endless just from one play. Tebow could keep it and run, keep it and pass, give it and have Vick run, give it and have Vick pass, give it and have Vick throwback, and so on.

Fantasy Impact: The initial prosperity that fantasy owners will see from the QB/RB hybrid position will begin to fade with the utilization of two-quarterback systems. Fantasy football will undoubtedly adapt to this system, probably in much the same way it has evolved to embrace two-running back offenses.

Again, more and more leagues will convert to an auction style draft, as holding a top pick will become increasingly valuable in the future. Eventually, however, the value of these hybrid players will decrease and, like all NFL trends, the cycle will repeat itself.

 

5. The pure pass-catching tight end will die out and be replaced by a more versatile hybrid player.

As I explained before, tight ends are so valuable to an offense because of their versatility. Defenses must stay in base personnel to account for the tight end’s ability to block, creating mismatches on the tight end when he goes out in a route.

More and more, however, NFL teams are drafting tight ends who simply cannot block well. This allows defenses to substitute nickel personnel when the tight end is in the game, knowing that he will not be able to block well enough for his offense to sustain a viable rushing attack.

The extra cornerback who is in the game can usually match up well with the tight end, who, although he has good receiving skills, is not as quick or talented as a pure wide receiver. Thus, the entire reason for using a tight end—to create a mismatch—is ruined.

Fantasy Impact: Eventually, fantasy leagues may not require a starting tight end at all, as most of the high-scoring tight ends figure to be replaced by the hybrid players I spoke about earlier.

The versatility that a true tight end brings will allow those players (Jason Witten, Tony Gonzalez, Heath Miller) to flourish, but the pure pass-catching tight end will become a thing of the past, meaning there may not be enough tight ends left to justify requiring a starter on each team. Instead, yet another flex position will take its place.

 

6. True man coverage will all but disappear.

The reason for the disappearance is two-fold. First, the NFL’s illegal contact rule has made man-to-man coverage nearly impossible. Even when teams appear to be in man coverage, the cornerback generally has safety help over the top.

Second, with the offenses transitioning to running quarterbacks, the risk of playing man coverage, or even 2-man under (man coverage underneath with two safeties deep), is just too great. With defenders back’s turned to the quarterback, it will just become too easy for the quarterback to scramble. This man-coverage-less defensive scheme was seen when Michael Vick was quarterbacking Atlanta.

This will lead team’s to use a zone blitz for the majority of their pressures. More and more teams will convert to a 3-4 to allow more athleticism on the field for these zone schemes to work.

Having a 350-pound defensive tackle drop into zone coverage may work once or twice a game because it can confuse a quarterback, but with the majority of blitzes becoming of the zone variety, defenses will need smaller, quicker players to combat how offenses will attack.

Fantasy Impact: There will be fewer and fewer opportunities for receivers to beat a corner deep, as a safety will just be there waiting for them, even in most blitzing situations. Thus, the speed of the X and Z receivers will decrease, with bigger, stronger receivers flourishing outside. Small, quick hybrid players will dominate the slot, as their speed can still be utilized against linebackers and in underneath zones.

We have already seen this begin to take place in the NFL, and the rushing ability of future NFL quarterbacks will alter defensive schemes, which will ultimately allow for the success of big, tall pass-catchers.

These predictions are certainly not immune to criticism. Feel free to leave feedback regarding anything with which you may agree, and anywhere you think I may have gone wrong.

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Pittsburgh Steelers: Rusting From the Inside Out

The Super Bowl hangover has officially arrived in full force for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It started as a light wind, but now rampages at category five hurricane status.

Who would have thought that 11 games into the 2009 season the Steelers would be 6-5 and fighting for their playoff lives?

Who could have predicted the defense would consistently play flat late in games, the locker room would be in turmoil, and festering anger and frustration would cause the ultimate team player to call out his star quarterback on national TV?

This is the sad state the defending champions are in.

Let’s not sugarcoat this. If the Steelers don’t get their act together soon, like right now, the playoffs are history.

Pittsburgh has lost three straight games and is close to sliding free-fall down the slippery slope.

The rest of the team should heed what DE Brett Keisel said after the loss to the Ravens last night:

“We’ve got to win out. There are no ifs, ands, or buts. We’ve got to win out in order for us to be playing in January.”

A tall order.

Can it be done? The schedule says yes.

The Steelers can right the ship in hurry with Oakland (3-8) coming to town this week, and a road date with Cleveland (1-10) following. That should put them at 8-5.

Home dates with Baltimore (6-5) and surging Green Bay (7-4) will be tough before closing out the season on the road at Miami (5-6).

Beating the Ravens and Packers would put Pittsburgh in pretty good shape for a playoff birth, but mark my words, it won’t be easy by any stretch. They can’t afford to lose focus or have a letdown. The Kansas City game proved that much.

The locker room is in disarray. There can be zero argument against that now. Not after last night.

The seeds of discontent were sewed last week when LB James Harrison stated he felt they weren’t playing together as a team. The word of division in the locker room spread. Coach Mike Tomlin downplayed it in his weekly press conference.

Just when Tomlin thought it blew over, Hines Ward went and threw grease right on the fire. Ward, the heart and soul of the Steelers, called QB Ben Roethlisberger out, and on national television to boot.

Speaking with Bob Costas on a taped portion of the NBC pregame show, Ward talked about the locker room being “like a 50/50 toss-up” over whether Roethlisberger should have played last night despite a concussion from seven days earlier.

“It’s almost like a 50/50 toss-up in the locker room: Should he play? Shouldn’t he play? It’s really hard to say. I’ve been out there dinged up; the following week, got right back out there. Ben practiced all week. He split time with Dennis Dixon. And then to find out that he’s still having some headaches and not playing and it came down to the doctors didn’t feel that they were going to clear him or not—it’s hard to say. Unless you’re the person [himself]. …I’ve lied to a couple of doctors saying I’m straight, I feel good when I know that I’m not really straight.

“This game is almost like a playoff game. It’s almost a must-win. I could see some players or teammates questioning, like ‘It’s just a concussion. I’ve played with a concussion before.”

Wow! Strong words indeed.

Ward attempted to downplay his comments after the game, but the damage has been done.

Words can cause as much, if not more, pain than physical abuse. No matter how much the doctors try and spin it, the all-time franchise leader in every receiving category implied that Roethlisberger wasn’t tough enough to play last night. In essence, according to Ward, Big Ben let the team down.

And notice he said the rest of the guys are 50/50 on the issue. That sounds like a divided locker room to me.

Tomlin needs to get these guys on the same page in a hurry or the season could be lost.

Injuries, coupled with tension and frustration, have spilled over into their on-field performance.

For the fourth time this season, the defense couldn’t hold a lead in the fourth quarter. Don’t blame Dixon’s pick for the loss. He played a decent game under the circumstances. It was the defense, or lack thereof, that let Ray Rice and company rip them up in overtime.

This squad was made of tough, Pittsburgh steel last season, and they won their sixth ring because of it. This year that steel is rusting due to injuries and internal strife.

Now, with the season on the brink, only Tomlin and his staff can repair the damage and get the Steelers back on track.

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New York Giants: Eli Manning Gets More Bad News

Eli Manning claims the injury that plagued him for the middle of the season has not affected his play—his play would suggest otherwise.

That being said, this most recent bit of news will have all of Big Blue nation on the edge of their seats the rest of the season.

A stress reaction has developed in the cupoid bone as a result of Manning trying to protect his plantar fasciitis since the injury happened in Week Four.

The Giants are doing everything to protect the foot, making Eli wear protective shoes and telling him to stay off it as much as possible.

This may not mean anything, but what it leads to may be devastating. The stress reaction makes Manning more susceptible to a stress fracture in his foot, which would undoubtedly end his 2009 season.

Manning and the Giants organization are not sharing my concerns. The pair have been optimistic and claim nothing is wrong.

• “It’s one of those things that time and rest is probably the biggest thing,” he said. “Having the weekend and the bye week and off week helped some. Time to rest it is helpful. It is not something I think will linger or bother me.”—Eli Manning.

Eli seems to be the opposite of Ben Roethlisberger when it comes to injuries:

• “It is frustrating, kind of one thing leading to another. When you have to go to the training room and get treatment, it throws your schedule out of whack. It kind of pushes things back. I am a guy who doesn’t like to be in a training room. That’s been probably the biggest annoyance trying to deal with it.”

The next two weeks are the Giants’ season. If they lose just one of them, the season is over. At the very least, the Giants need to go 10-6 to get a Wild Card spot, and it doesn’t feel like a four-game win streak is in the cards if they lose to the ‘Boys.

The last time the Giants played the Cowboys, Manning went off and both Mario Manningham and Steve Smith had career days. The offense needs to step up to make up for the awful play of the defense.

It is incredible how night and day the offense was in the Atlanta and Denver games. In just four days the offense went from looking like a team ready to bounce back and finish strong, to a team who looks ready to pack it in and get ready for next year.

More bad news for a struggling team. One thing to remember is that 2009 is starting to feel a lot like 2007 before the Super Bowl run; the only problem is Steve Spagnuolo is not leading the defense.

Even if the Giants don’t make the playoffs, a sweep of the Cowboys would be nice. A division win could be enough to turn the season around.

Let’s go Big Blue.

 

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History: Huff, Ellis, Seymour Compared To Green, White, Holmes

A historical look at the Pittsburgh Steelers is good preparation for the Oakland Raiders in 2009. It will alert the Oakland Raiders to rise to the occasion and tackle an opponent who historically is credited with having a very good defensive squad.

 

The Historical Context

During the same years the Pittsburgh Steelers were building “The Steel Curtain,” America was building a defense for dropouts and push-outs in urban schools. Those years saw the high school dropout rate for African-American males climb to an alarming high.

There was a crisis because of a lack of presence of role models. Organizations like the National Urban League got involved in education, mainly to help reduce the dropout rate in urban communities.

Defenses needed to be built in American education. Young men needed to be herded off the streets and back into the classrooms. The legislation that would fund the dropout prevention programs, which was America’s defense for an emerging problem, was called the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA). While all of this was happening on a national level, the Pittsburgh Steelers were building up a powerful defense, called “The Steel Curtain.”

 

The Connections

As the project director of a Houston Area Urban League ESAA project, I was told to hire four strong men who could help find the dropouts and encourage them to return to high school, and to identify those who were potential dropouts.

I found four good men to implement the project. One of them, I distinctly remember, was a relative of Dwight White, a defensive player with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The name of Dwight White’s relative was Bob White, and he had been a probation officer. He was perfectly suited for the job.

The other man I hired was an ex-U. S. Marine who wanted to help young people.

 

The Motivating Stories

Mr. White constantly talked about his relative Dwight. I was curious and Mr. White would share with us, the experiences of Dwight White, “Mean” Joe Greene, Ernie Holmes and L. C. Greenwood. He would brag about how tough, smart and determined those NFL players were. Somehow that motivated the ESAA counselors to go out there in those rough, urban communities and tackle those dropouts, and herd them back into the schools such as Jack Yates High School, in Third Ward.

Each NFL player stands out in my mind in 2009 for a different reason.

Dwight White stood out because he was the relative to a man who worked as a counselor in the program I directed.

“Mean” Joe Greene stood out because of his performance on the football field and his name.

Ernie Holmes stood out because he attended Texas Southern University, and he was known for his intensity on the playing field. His name stands out in my mind even more now because he fathered one of the promising young mathematicians in the United States, Dr. Rod Holmes.

There were really four outstanding defense players with the Pittsburgh Steelers at that time. I made no connection with the fourth player.

Here is what an interesting chapter in history looks like in 2009.

Ernie Holmes who passed away, at 59-years-old, in a car accident somewhere between Houston, Texas and Beaumont, Texas is the father of a young mathematician who has made history.

I work with Ernie Holmes’ son. Dr. Rod Holmes, the second African-American man to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Houston, must have put up a powerful defense to negotiate his way to the end of a historical accomplishment.

He was mentored by Dr. Willie Taylor, the first African-American man to receive his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Houston. Is it possible that the wisdom of his father, the great defensive player with “The Steel Curtain” rubbed off on the son, Dr. Rob Holmes?

 

The Common Traits for Success

The determination, persistence, and passion you need for football is also needed in intellectual endeavors. Perhaps the powerful attributes of the father were passed on to the son, giving him the coping skills to wedge forth and get a Ph.D. in one of the most challenging areas in mathematics, functional analysis? I think so.

Does the tradition of building and having a powerful defensive team continue in the current Pittsburgh Steelers team? Probably so.

Traces of genius stood out in the career of Ernie Holmes.

In one quote we see:

“Holmes, drafted out of Texas Southern, was part of a defense that held Minnesota to 17 yards rushing and 119 total yards in the 1975 Super Bowl. The Steelers won their first title, 16-10. They were back a year later, beating Dallas 21-17 for the championship.

“The 1976 Steelers defense was one of the best in NFL history, shutting out five opponents—three in a row—during a nine-game, season-ending winning streak. The Steelers allowed only 28 points during those nine games, an average of slightly more than a field goal per game.

“He was devastating and would just destroy the opponent across from him,” Russell said. “Sometimes I had to remind him to tackle the guy with the pigskin. He was a brilliant player. He played all with his heart.”

“He used his head, too. Besides “Fats,” he was also known as “Arrowhead” because in 1974 he shaved his head, leaving only an arrow-shaped pattern of hair on his skull. “I asked him, ‘What the hell did you do that for?'” longtime Steelers director of communications Joe Gordon said.

“We were getting ready to play the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. He said, ‘That’s to point me to the quarterback.'” What stands out is the comment “He used his head” and “he was a brilliant player.”

 

The Role Models were evident

So, the four men who often bragged about the brilliance of L. C. Greenwood, Joe Green, Dwight White and Ernie Holmes were good role models. Perhaps they saw the merit and power of a good defense.

And, the four men who took part in “The Steel Curtain” set a model in place for those times by being one of the best NFL defense squads in NFL history. Out of that pool of talent was birthed one of America’s promising mathematicians.

It looks like Dr. Rod Holmes inherited the brilliance and heart of his father. It is no small feat to be one of the few African-American men to get a Ph.D. in functional analysis.

Brilliance can be in the genes, however, it may manifest itself in different ways. Ernie Holmes showed his on the playing field while his son shows his in intellectual pursuits.

 

The Historical Encounter  

Now there is a story telling about what Ernie Holmes did, and how he approached Gene Upshaw of the Oakland Raiders. Holmes forewarned Upshaw that the Steelers defense was, let’s say, stronger and more fierce than the Raiders.

Well, a game is coming up on Dec. 6. Is there a “Ernie Holmes” making his way to a “Gene Upshaw”? Is the Oakland Raiders team being forewarned about the tactics and strength of the Pittsburgh Steelers?

A historical encounter is captured in this quote: “To motivate his teammates, Holmes purposefully strayed into the Raiders’ warm ups to tell star lineman Gene Upshaw before the January 1976 AFC Championship Game what the Steelers would do to him and Oakland.

“The Steelers went on to win 24-13. But at a team Christmas party, Holmes surprised everyone by dressing up like Santa Claus and handing out toys.”

It’s 33 years later. In 2009 is there a Steelers defensive player who will “stray into the Raiders’ warm ups” and tell the Raiders’ star lineman what the Steelers will do to him and Oakland on Dec. 6?

 

The Heritage

I conclude by saying that out of the personal heritage of Ernie Holmes has come an outstanding young mathematician, Rod Holmes.

More broadly, then, we can say that out of the franchise heritage of both the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Oakland Raiders should come forth with a “Ernie Holmes” and a “Gene Upshaw.”

An Oct. 2009 article, written by Saint , cites a progress report on the Oakland Raiders defensive players:

“1) Michael Huff —Huff is second in the NFL with three interceptions, and he has also gotten his hands on plenty more as he, playing a part time role, is tied for the NFL lead in passes defensed. He is definitely the surprise of the 2009 season, for the Raiders, to this point.

“2) Greg Ellis —Ellis is 7th in the NFL with four sacks, although he was not given credit for a half sack in the first game that was given to Seymour. He has been an outstanding pick-up from Dallas and I am sure that he has something special planned for Thanksgiving Day in the Big D!

“3) The Law Offices of Morrison, Howard and BRANCH?—Howard and Morrison are tied for 17th in tackles with 31 and Tyvon is fifth among all safeties with 29 of his own. Morrison and Howard have really stepped up their games and are each tracking 124 tackles while Tyvon is proving to be one heckuva Fourth Rounder and is tracking 116 in his first full season starting in the NFL.

“4) Richard Seymour —Seymour does have two sacks this season, but his leadership has been invaluable in galvanizing the front four.

“5) Nnamdi—The man with ZERO stats. As they once said, a long time ago, if your name is being called a lot and you are on the offensive line or the defensive backfield, it is NOT usually a good thing. So, Nnamdi is doing his “Nnamdiest” to stay out of the stat column but has made nearly every play that has come his way.

“This defense is young and getting better, what do you think Raider Nation?”

Who will win the game on Dec. 6, 2009? I will leave it up to you, the readers, to give predictions.

 

The Vision

One thing we can conjecture is that the Oakland Raiders has an emerging leader, Richard Seymour. Will the current Oakland Raiders defensive players reverse the results of the 2009 pattern, and overcome the Pittsburgh Steelers who have historically had players like Holmes who “bullied” and out-thought his opponents because not only was he tough, but he was smart, too.

So in 2009, the Oakland Raiders need to build up their “Brick Wall” or some wall made out of a viscoelastic material (polymer) so as to combat the forces they will likely encounter on Dec. 6, 2009.

Go Raiders! Build up a history of a powerful defense!

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Jay Glazer: Falcons’ Matt Ryan Ruled Out Against Eagles With Turf Toe Injury

Jay Glazer, who is rarely wrong, tweeted today that Matt Ryan will be out when the Eagles head to Atlanta for an NFC showdown that will most certainly have playoff implications for both teams, win or lose.

Glazer goes on to say that Ryan has turf toe and will be visiting a specialist in Charlotte. Turf toe could mean that Ryan will not only miss this game, but possibly the next few depending upon the severity of the ligament damage.

It’s bad news for a struggling Falcons team, but great news for a struggling Eagles team. With Ryan out, the Falcons will most certainly start Chris Redman. Redman, while a decent backup in his own right, is not a quarterback capable of beating the Eagles defense.

The Philly defense is struggling right now, but if the Bucs could put up a fight against Atlanta, then the Eagles defense should be able to dominate. Add that onto the fact that Michael Turner could miss this game with a high ankle sprain and that Jerious Norwood is less than 100 percent and you have a recipe that equals no excuses for this Philly defense.

In fact, if this is anything less than total domination, Philly will start to question if this is really a defense that can carry this team deep into the playoffs. The Falcons still have some weapons, so a shutout is by no means expected. But anything more than 14 or 17 points would be unacceptable.

This could be a very good game for Philly as a whole to gain some confidence, some momentum and really get them in gear for domination in December.

On the other hand, this could be a trap game. With Ryan and Turner most likely out, it wouldn’t be shocking to see this defense become complacent and lay an egg, so to speak. On top of that, it’s difficult to bury a team when they’re against the ropes. Especially a well-coached and talented team like the Falcons.

It will be on the coaching staff and the leaders of this team to prevent that from happening.

Update: Coach Mike Smith has confirmed the report; Ryan is out.

 

This article was originally featured on 2 Minutes to Midnight Green.

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NFL’s Changes in Post-Concussion Treatment a “Headache” for Players

In Tennessee, Arizona Cardinals’ backup quarterback Matt Leinart faced off against a Tennessee Titans squad led by his college nemesis Vince Young, and lost.

In Baltimore, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie Dennis Dixon, who had previously completed a grand total of one pass in the NFL, met “Joe Cool” Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens in primetime and lost.

Why is this an issue worthy of writing about, you ask?

Both Leinart and Dixon found out they were starting after Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger found out Saturday that they were scratched due to post-concussion symptoms that prevented them from playing.

Warner woke up Saturday morning with dizziness and fuzzy vision, and Roethlisberger was complaining about headaches. Once the coaching staffs of each team found out, it was over. Warner didn’t even dress; Big Ben was relegated to third-string emergency status.

Enter Leinart and Dixon, neither of which had any idea they would be starters, and therefore had no preparation for the games they were about to play in.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I am neither advocating that either starter should have been in the game, nor am I stating beyond a shadow of a doubt that the games would have ended any differently if they had. I am also not implying that Leinart or Dixon would have fared any better had they been given opportunity to get more reps in practice.

They are backups for a reason, after all.

What I am saying is this: the NFL’s increased—might I add long overdue—attention towards and impending changes to their treatment of players exhibiting post-concussion symptoms is something that teams are going to have to prepare better for.

There is nothing that can substitute for the speed and stress of a game, but getting time with the first team in practice is crucial to the game plan. In Dixon’s case, for example, Pittsburgh could have thrown in a few more wrinkles that would allow him to utilize his skill set better.

It also would have given him more opportunity to get his reads down, and he might not have thrown a pick to a big, slow, lumbering defensive end who dropped off in zone coverage in overtime.

In Leinart’s case, he could have used the week to get his timing down and might have been able to connect on more of his longer pass attempts.

But one thing is certain: the rest of the offense for both teams would have been prepared for the decision and any adjustments that needed to be made could have been handled in practice instead of the locker room just prior to the game. 

Concussions have long been a little-talked-about issue, the 500-pound gorilla in the living room that no one wanted to acknowledge. Players have played with their bells rung for years, and none of them thought twice about “shaking off the cobwebs” and getting back in the game.

But thanks to advances in technology, as well as a better understanding of the workings of the human brain, the issue isn’t quite as taboo as it once was. Players are monitored closely following concussions, and if they can’t pass the battery of post-concussion tests, they sit. Period.

The players don’t like it too much, but it looks like they are going to have to live with it. The onus is now on the coaches to ensure that when a player suffers a concussion in a game, they know and understand that there are going to be changes in how it is handled. Backups are going to have to be ready to go and coaching staffs are going to have to make sure they get the preparation necessary.

In short, everyone is going to have to suck it up and live with the changes.

Ironically, that’s just what the new treatment of concussions will allow them to do down the road.

Live with it.

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The Fort Report: Monday Stock Watch

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